Investigating the relationship between false memory formation and emotional response

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Abstract

Previous research on the phenomenon known as “False Memory” has shown that
there is a direct relationship between false memory formation and emotional
response. Conclusions on the whole were derived from results of experiments that
evaluated false memory prompted solely by stimuli that represented positive and
negative emotions. Research for this thesis sought to further the discussion through
the use of experiments that targeted, more specifically, the five basic emotions
described by Power & Dalgleish (2008) as: happiness, fear, anger, disgust, and
sadness. Additionally, this research tested the effects of, and/or relationships
between, false memory and the basic emotions of the members of the study, to
include depressed, dysphoric, and control-group individuals. In a departure from
earlier studies, these experiments assessed the effects on groups across cultures--
namely Syrian and British--as well as across time.
There were 204 participants in three studies, and they were divided into two
groups according to their scores on the BDI II: dysphoric and non-dysphoric.
There were two samples representing two different societies: Syrian and British.
Additionally, in the fourth experiment, there were 41 clinically depressed patients
and 20 in the control group. Four studies were conducted in which participants
viewed a series of both emotional and non-emotional pictures taken from the
IAPS. Participants were asked to answer a series of questions. There were two
questions for each picture; one of the questions was based on actual content within
the various pictures while the other was designed to elicit a confabulated response
by suggesting content that was not actually present. The participants returned to
the lab one week later and were asked the same questions again. The findings
show that accuracy of memory is diminished, and quality of memory is impaired,
in both immediate and delayed recall conditions when leading questions were used
to elicit responses--the questions that suggested content not in evidence.
Participants produced more false memories to the emotional pictures than they did
to the non-emotional pictures, with the exception of disgust-related pictures for
which they produced significantly fewer false memories. False memory
manifested to a greater degree in the delayed recall condition than it did in the
immediate recall condition. Cultural factors proved to have no influence on false
memory formation. Correct memories from dysphoric/depressed participants were
less than correct memories from their non-dysphoric/depressed counterparts. There
was a significant relationship between correct memories and emotional content of
the pictures. Correct memories decreased across time. The implications of the
research are examined for the relationship between emotion and false memory.